Yeartide
by DF-chan
Summary: "You have questions." "Yeah, I do. And how helpful is it, that you decide to answer them so fast. Only some 200 years later." ROTBTD!SeasonalSpiritsAU. A series of one-shots.
1. Haust

**1:** _Haust_

Hiccup had never seen her before, but when a dark-haired woman draped in the storm clouds seats herself next to him on his perch, he knows who she is. It is a conscious effort from his part not to fall to his knees and bow his head low, and only his experience as a Chief and an Alpha help him to resist the initial urge and instead to politely nod his head, it was enough to acknowledge the more powerful entity but not to offer his loyalties and submission so easily.

But the woman clearly wasn't bothered. A serene smile was firmly fixed on her long pale face, as she inclined her head to greet him back, long raven-colored locks tumbling down her shoulder. Hiccup had a feeling that she didn't expect him to speak nor she was going to rush into talking herself. He turned his head away from her to look ahead, but keeping her presence in his peripheral vision. But she just sat there next to him, on the highest branch overlooking the forest bathed in the golden-orange light of the sunset, that made the autumn leaves flare with inner fire, creating an illusion of the burning trees. And it felt like they were the only ones in the middle of that dancing fire, that smelled of rain and earth.

The wind tugged the cloak wrapped around Hiccup's shoulders, lightly touching the woman's hair in curiosity, before racing over the tree tops, making them sway like fiery waves.

" _You have questions."_

Her voice (Soft like shuffle of leaves and loud like thunder during the storm, it rolled over him as a whirlwind and touched him like a first ray of sun.) startles him so bad, he almost slipped from the branch, but wind helpfully blasted him in the face to keep him upright, to which he murmurs a quite 'thanks bud'. But even that fumble can't stop the words slipping past his lips.

"Yeah, I do. And how helpful is it, that you decide to answer them so fast. Only some 200 years later."

He really couldn't help it. Not only his social skills became incredibly rusty after so much time with almost (absolutely) zero human interaction, but the sarcasm was his natural defensive and offensive mechanism. Years (centuries) of habits are hard to break.

Though, when he expected lightning and doom, and wrath worthy of Odin himself, he was met with an unladylike snort coming from his seat-fellow.

" _I doubt you would have listened, if we approached you before."_

"Well, thank you for deciding things for me." Hiccup really didn't know when to close his mouth and keep quiet, but so far he wasn't incinerated on the spot, so he counted it as a win. "I could perfectly decide myself, if I want answers for my 'condition' as soon as it happened and not some odd centuries later."

" _Would you have listened to me?"_ she asked. There is no accusation in her voice, but her eyes are dark and knowing, and Hiccup subdued almost as fast as he reeled up.

He wouldn't have. Not really. He would have probably panicked and raged (though he did it either way) and did something reckless (Although he was tempted to do something stupid now too). He knew it and she knew it, but it didn't stop Hiccup's irritation as he remembered those first couple of frightening decades, with nothing but distant memories of his past and his new name.

" _Though, I agree that Manny ought to give a little bit more information during the initial… acquaintance."_ She murmured almost humorously, casting a glance at the evening sky, where a barely visible pale disk hung. _"But I am more of an opinion that the freshly made ought to have time for their own, to explore, discover and understand, before stepping up to their duties. I hope you enjoyed your free time."_

Hiccup in fact, did enjoy it. Even his situation couldn't quite quench his wanderlust and desire of knowledge, when he discovered that he could travel high and far, unseen and undisturbed, he did indulge his urges. But the world was big, and his desire sometimes was overcome with melancholy and memories. So it was no wonder that while he traveled and saw as much as possible, the fact that he had all the time in the world now to do so, made the novelty of the situation fade. Now he was content enough to travel whenever the wanderlust stirred his heart, but settle whenever possible, to think and just remember.

His companion looked at him, her dark eyes understanding, but her last words finally registered in Hiccup's mind.

"Duties?" Hiccup was pretty sure he was pulling a face, like he unconsciously did with his father when he was young and Stoick would go on and on about the duties of the Chief. It was really more of a reflex, since he perfectly understood what duties were and what they entailed.

She inclined her head, one white slender hand reaching out from the folds of the cloud cloak to gently pick an orange oak leaf from the branch and bring it up to her face.

" _You travel across the lands, trailing fallen leaves behind you, settling the world to_ _ **langr hǫfgi***_ _through the cold and snow, so it could unfurl itself from the embrace of the dream to start living again with the arrival of warmth. You are the preparation for_ _ **umskipti***_ _of the world, the part of the natural cycle of life and death."_ The woman sighed lightly, letting her breath catch the shimmering leaf and tug it swirling into the air, where it was joined by others, disturbed by a sudden foreign gust of wind that flapped Hiccup's short hair but didn't disturb a single lock of hair on her head.

" _It is time that you inherited your predecessor, even though she is long gone now, I am sure she would have approved of our choice."_ Suddenly she was near him, so close that her hair fell in a curtain around his face, obscuring his vision. Her lips touched his forehead, before she murmured to him in a quiet, echoing voice.

" _Be strong,_ _ **Haust***_ _. For you are first of the new, and it is not always easy to bring change as the first one."_

He blinked and she was gone, with only the smells of the storm and flowers left behind. The sun was setting and everything was bathed in the twilight shadows. He stood up on the branch, his prosthetic thumping against the bark. The wind raced back to him, playfully nipping his face with cold flecks and twining around him.

He paused thoughtfully looking at the spot that was previously occupied by the woman, before shaking his head with a huff. Next to him, the branch dipped under the sudden added weight, and suddenly instead of chilly wind, a puff of warm breath touched his face.

"Yeah, I know bud." Hiccup murmured, turning his orange-red eyes to stare into the toxic green ones of his partner.

"It looks like we have work to do."

* * *

 **Author's note: ** ROTBTD crossover has somewhat taken over my life, and out of a crazy number of plot bunnies in my head, this one seemed to be more reasonable to be posted as first story after my long hiatus on this site. I do not promise that my other stories will be updated (I actually noted on most of them that they are left unfinished), but maybe while the inspiration for this one is alive, it will be updated as frequently as possible.

This fic is a series of one-shots connected with each other and written in one SeasonalSpirits!AU, and I'll try to keep them somewhat timelined, but I can't really promise that. The size of one-shots will vary. Maybe there will be accompanying artwork for this AU. The current cover is temporary, but it was drawn by me and can also be found on my DA account along with my other ROTBTD art.

And yes, I borrowed Mother Nature appearance from Guardians of Childhood books, but it is not, I repeat NOT the same character of the canon (I didn't even read the book. Honestly, I'm just loosely playing with her characterization and her physical appearance (taken from Wikia).

If any other fans of this AU would like to ramble and discuss it, or just share their preferences, they are free to do so, because it is really interesting to know other people's views. Maybe we even share them? Who knows.

 **Author's note (02/19/2016):** Uploaded a fixed-up Chap1, because I found a couple of mistakes that irked me.

Sorry for my english, but to be fair, I'm a foreigner. ;D

 **Old Norse: umskipti* - change**

 **langr hǫfgi* - long sleep**

 **haust* - autumn**


	2. Somer

**2:** _Somer_

Sprint right, duck under the branch and jump over the roots, just keep running, running, because the muscles have forgotten what is it like to ache all over from the overuse.

Ah, wasn't it freeing? The feel of the wind in your face and hair, the heat of the sun on your skin, the smell and feel of the earth under your feet, as you race through the forest. It was as freeing as it was terrifying, because you could run forever and no one would ever call you back to return.

Tears slipped freely down her cheeks, almost instantly disappearing in the heat of the summer air, and Merida sniffed stubbornly in an attempt to keep them at bay. It seemed shameful to her, to keep crying like a little girl, that she hadn't been for a long time now. The ingrained need to hide the tears from her people, to keep up the front of a strong and capable figure, so no one would ever doubt her. She didn't need to do it now, but the habits were ingrained into her brain, and she kept hiding her tears despite the fact that there was not a living soul nearby. Her mother would have been proud that her emotional daughter, still remembered all those lessons that she so painstakingly taught her.

A bitter laughter welled up in her throat, at the thought of her mother. What would she have said, if she saw her daughter, tearing through the forest like a little wild thing, hair and clothes in disarray with tear tracks on her cheeks? Probably she would have scolded her like no tomorrow, before bundling her down in front of the cozy fireplace in her parent's rooms and attempt to wrestle her unruly air back into order. She always tried it, even if she knew that it was futile. Her father's blood was strong in her and her brothers, and a fiery mane of hair was a proud sign of the DunBroch clan. Which his father will always proclaim loudly when bundling up the boys into the room with them.

She choked back another sob, as the heat licked down her spine.

Oh, how she missed those times, but it was long-long gone, and every thought about it send another stab into her heart. Sometimes, in this blur of days and weeks, the pain would become too unbearable, too heavy, and she would get up and run.

Run, like when she was just a girl, out in the forest. Run and not looking back, because it was too painful. Run and jump, feeling air pushing her, propelling her forward as she runs over roots and rocks.

"Oomph!"

The collision was so unexpected, that Merida didn't even thought about stopping or dodging. She went head over heels, rolling a few feet away, before finally stopping face up on the grass. The world around her tittered dizzingly, as she tried to gather her bearings. A groan somewhere behind her, alerted her of another presence and she scrambled up, her hand going to her trusty bow.

"Who are you?!" She drew an arrow faster than she looked exactly at what she was aiming. It was another person, male, tall and lanky, with tossed auburn hair and a cloak of leaves clinging to his shoulders. He was squinting at her with his green-or-glinting orange eyes, while rubbing his lightly stubbled face, from his ungainly sprawl on the earth.

"What are you doing here?" the man mumbled, gathering his limbs and standing up unsteadily. Merida took a menacing step forward, something in his accent stirring dread in her, making the arrowhead glint red. "I asked you first!"

"Wow, hey-hey, no need for weapons here!" He held his hands up, still half-crouched and with a confused frown on his face. "You don't know who I am?" He asked her, slowly, looking at her searchingly.

"Should I?" Merida hesitated, her eyes sweeping over his figure. No, she hadn't seen him before. She would have remembered those strangely intense, colour-changing eyes, and a cape of leaves was a memorable kind of odd, and… Her eyes fell down at his feet, which were actually only a right foot. The left was a mess of wood growing over the male's shin and ending up in some metal and wood sort of peg-leg. His accent has already set her on edge, but a sight of an obvious aftermath of a battle wound made her nerves coil tighter in suspicion. Merida narrowed her eyes and tipped her head to the side, indicating for stranger to move.

Still holding his hands in a placating gesture, the man slowly straightened up from his awkward half-crouch and made a couple of steps back.

"I don't know who you are." Merida said. "The only thing I know that you are the same as me, if I see you and you - me."

"You obviously didn't meet a lot of like us, right?" The stranger raised an eyebrow.

"I don't want to meet them." The red head snapped. "I'm not like them! I don't know what I am still doing here, why am I not with my family, where I should be, and instead is left roaming here, after those savages!-" she forcefully closed her mouth, feeling the heat along her spine growing and licking at her face. Flames started to dance at the edges of her vision and at the tip of her arrow, but she didn't dare to move her eyes from the stranger, as she breathed heavily, trying to contain her temper.

She startled so badly, she almost let her arrow fly, when the man gave out a half-muffled groan and fisted his hands into his hair.

"Nonononono- I didn't sign up for this! She didn't even warn me that I will have this kind of problems! Or this kind of duties! Seriously, isn't she like my Boss? Shouldn't she be the one to do it?"

"HEY! What are you blabbering on about?!" Merida yelled, stomping down her foot childishly. "Stop talking crazy, and explain already, who are you and what are you doing here?!"

The man sighed, and put his hands on his hips, his cloak shifting to reveal a red tunic underneath, with two dark leather belts on his waist, on which hang an array different sized poaches. On one of the belts hung a strange-thing that looked like a thick hilt of the sword, with a carved dragon head with an open mouth, and on the other hung a horned helmet attached by a rope.

"My name is _**Haust***_. And I am your brother, _**Somer***_."

Merida froze, at the sight of the helmet and the sound of that accursed language. Her vision filled with blood and hellfire, as she heard her people and enemies alike scream, over and over again, as if she was back on the battlefield.

She screamed.

* * *

 **Author's note:** Weeelp, my 'frequent updates' turned out not... as much frequent as I hoped. At least I'm trying? This AU in my head has a lot of plot bunnies, but I'm trying to write them out in as much order as possible. And they do not always come out in order, so it's a little difficult to make a semi linear plot for one-shots. But I wanted to warn you: first 4 chapters are sort of introductionary, and after them will go a different sort of one-shots. I'm still deciding which. In other words, all questions which may arise during the reading of intro-chapters will be answered, sooner or later.

On the other note, wanted to thank you **KitKatLove96, Natsume1111, dragons237, China12** and **GoodorEvil132** for favs and follows!

 **Author's note (02/26/2016):** Uploaded a slightly fixed up Chap2.

 _Sorry for my english, but to be fair, I'm a foreigner. ;D_

 **Old Norse: haust* - autumn**

 **Old Scottish/Scottish: somer* - summer**


	3. Fruhling

**3:** _Frühling_

She wonders, if it was unusual. It certainly was unexpected, but was it unusual? She hummed thoughtfully, her bare toes digging into the soft soil under her feet, as she surveyed the clearing opening up in front of her. Rapunzel moved forward, but hesitated, shuffling back behind the tree she was standing. The indecision was unusual for her, but the situation was not in the realm of her comfort zone either.

After all, how do you react to a giant black lizard materializing from the thin air?

Of course, considering her life, should it really be considered unusual? Not everyone were born with the help of the sun drop-turned-flower, have hair with healing power, be kidnapped by a witch, live longer than any other human, and come back to the afterlife with powers that are hard to comprehend. But, Rapunzel conceded, even during her long life she hadn't seen such a creature (thought she had seen other wondrous things).

She peeked from behind the tree again, watching as the graceful sleek body gleefully rolling in the grass, she had only recently helped to bud and grow. Centuries-long fears about monsters surfaced in her memories, but she looked doubtfully at the creature rolling around like a happy puppy. She was pretty sure it was purring, judging by a throaty rumbling sound emitting from its throat. Rapunzel couldn't help a smile at the sight. Somehow it reminded her of Maximus, who had such an expressive face and body, like this creature. Though, it was unlikely that the stallion would have done something as undignified as roll in the grass.

Without realizing it, she let out a giggle at the mental image. The creature's head snapped up and it disappeared in a whirl of wind.

She didn't have time to be disappointed or to think where had it gone, when the wind whirled around her, whipping her skirt and hair. Rapunzel took an involuntary step back, when the wind solidified into a black menacing shape looming over her. Standing on its hind legs, the giant leather wings snapped open and with a snarl on its snout and slitted eyes, it posed a frightening figure.

But Rapunzel looked into its eyes and saw intelligence, that she had often seen in her faithful Pascal and loyal Maximus, and she wasn't afraid.

"Amazing…" she breathed out, almost unconsciously, as she took in its features.

Its flat head was set on a short, sturdy neck, and on the top there were plates that looked like peculiar ears. They were cocked to the side, as the creature stopped snarling and looked at her curiously, as if wondering at her reaction.

"Hello, there!" Rapunzel couldn't help it. She smiled at it, and it seemed to be satisfied. It dropped back on all four legs and folded its wings, still looking at her with a cocked head, sniffing the air around her.

"Aren't you an interesting creature!" Rapunzel cooed, presenting it her hands to sniff at. "Though, what exactly are you, huh?" She jumped a little as it bumped its snout slightly against her palm, snorting. Its eyes were round now, all signs of hostility gone. It seemed to look at her hands, then at the clearing with grass where it had previously been, obviously making a connection.

"Did you like my work?" Rapunzel gently scratched it on the chin and it rumbled pleasantly. "Hm? I think you definitely liked this grass… boy?" It rambled, pushing its flat head against her hand for more scratches. "Boy, than I guess."

Rapunzel run her hands over his hide, scratching under his chin and smiling at the blessed out expression on its face.

"Aww, you are such an adorable boy, even with all those scary claws and teeth!"

"Well, glad to see that I was worried for nothing, bud."

Rapunzel yelped, whirling around, only to see a stranger looking at her and at the creature with amused green eyes. The black lizard bounded happily to the man, making happy noises and dancing around him, before swinging his head toward the field of grass and tensed Rapunzel.

"Oh, I get it now. Couldn't resist the dragon nip, huh, Toothless? Though, I do wonder how it could have grown here." The stranger patted the creature on head, shooting Rapunzel a look with an awkward crooked grin at his joke.

"Hey, sorry for the scare and that Toothless bothered you. The grass you grew is a sort of one of his weaknesses and he deserted me when he smelled it."

Rapunzel, who finally relaxed her initially defensive pose, released the death grip on her hair, letting it swing back behind her back.

"Uh, no problem." She eyed the stranger, still a little weary despite his friendly demeanor. "Wait, his name is Toothless?"

"Yeah. It actually has a pretty good reason for it."

Rapunzel's eyes widened when the stranger took a hold of the creature's jaws and tugged them open, revealing pink gums.

"But, I saw his teeth!-" Rapnzel blinked when the mentioned teeth popped out of the gums with a –shinck!- and Toothless smiled a toothy grin at her.

"Yeah, I still wonder how does that work. The tooth fairy is going nuts about it too. Toothless' species of dragons have been always a mistery-"

"Dragon? Toothless is a dragon?" Rapunzel couldn't contain awe and wonder from her voice, for she had heard about dragons only in fairy tales.

"Yeah, you probably haven't met one, they had become extinct a long time ago…" The stranger hummed with a hint of sadness, but the look he shot her was more curious than sad. "You are awfully calm, for someone who just met a complete stranger and a strange creature."

Rapunzel cocked her head at the sudden change of subject, but wasn't really caught off guard. Years of the same trick used on her in the court were kind of easy to get used to, so she just smiled at the stranger.

"Well, you didn't really give me a reason to panic yet, so I guess that's a good enough for me. Though, it would be polite to introduce yourself." She raised an eyebrow with a practice of a scolding mother and enjoyed the sight of a slight blush adorning the man's features.

"Right, yeah, sorry. I'm sort of out of practice in social niceties. Usually someone tries to kill me first before I even introduce myself." He joked, but Rapunzel could sense a hint of worrying truth behind those words.

"My name is **Haust**."

"Oh." Rapunzel blinked, finally paying attention to the man's attire, noting the cape of green-reddish leaves, his eyes that were now dark moss green, and a fake left leg. They stared at each other, Haust with a smile and Rapunzel with slight wonder, before she smiled back at the man.

"Hello brother, my name is **Frühling***."

* * *

 **Author's note:** As you probably guessed the contrast between Hiccup's meetings with Merida and Rapunzel are for a reason (and maybe even some guessed the main reason for it ;D). I will admit that Rapunzel's character is hardest for me to write. I try to make her sweet, without making her airheaded or too 'nice', but at the same time I had to show that she is not not an 18-year old character from the movie, because for her, a lifetime (and more) has went by. She now has edges like any adult person would, though her character is still the same.

And thank you **Daziy is SoniQ** , **Karapadamori** and **jennelyn12** for favs and follows!

 **GoodorEvil132 :** Thank you! I try really hard to keep everyone in character, but at the same time to show that they do not stay completely 'unchanged' through time. I never suspected how hard is it to make characters mature, without making them too OOC! I will definitely try to keep it like that.)

 **jennelyn12 :** I'm glad to hear it.) Hiccup's sarcasm is one of my most favourite features of his! Could you imagine that kid without sass? I hardly can! The worst part however, is to make up his sassines and to keep it canon. I'm quite a sarcastic girl myself, but still it is one thing to sass yourself and the other to make up lines for this kid. xD I will certainly try!

 _Sorry for my english, but to be fair, I'm a foreigner. ;D_

 **German: frühling* - spring**


	4. Winter

**4:** _Winter_

Jack's delighted laughter echoed through the barren winter woods, as he speeds up past the tree tops, making them sway and drop the snow from their branches on the ground.

He never grew tired of it and it never failed to lift his spirits, when he watched the snow cover the earth and paint everything in blinding white. The snowflakes whirled around him, as he let out a delighted whoop and careened into Burgess, frost covering the streets and houses in his wake.

Being the Guardian of Fun had its perks sometimes, considering that some regarded winter as a dreadful cold season. Jack never missed a chance to cheer children up with a snow day or a good snowball fight. His frost designs always got a delighted 'wow' from either kids or adults, and his heart always soared when anyone will pause in the snow to admire the snowflakes (or try to catch them with a mouth, be it a kid or an adult).

Jack never questioned why exactly Man in the Moon granted him the powers of winter. Though, with his recently recovered memories, he wondered if it was solely because of they way and time he had died. Either way, it never really bothered him. The powers were part of him that has been always there, even if he needed his staff to control them successfully. (It has stumped him sometimes, that without his staff he could use his powers. He felt them thrumming under his skin, but to use them was much-much harder.)

His grip on the staff tightened and he shouted out to his trusted partner.

"Wind, take me higher!"

The cold air ruffled his hair playfully, hurling his body up. Jack grinned at the clouds as he soared up, enjoying the feeling of freedom in the air.

Unexpectedly, the coldness around him for an instant grew a few degrees warmer, before the wind disappeared, dropping him. Jack's stomach flipped and let out a short scream, but gathered his bearing and summoned another gust of wind to stop his rapid descent.

"What the?-" Jack turned to look in the direction where the other gust of wind raced away, feeling the tendrils of heat clashing against his own colder ones. The spirit of winter frowned.

It was not the first time a thing like this happened. Either in the end of autumn or the beginning of spring, a warmer air currents will race past him or steal his current right under him, sometimes playfully, sometimes urgently, but always with a sense of an apology.

Of course, Jack knew that he was not the only spirit of the season. Other spirits often spoke about his three counterparts, that obviously were here longer than him. Cupid and other Western spirits were especially talkative about them, though he heard a passing mention of them from Eastern spirits as well. Even the guardians had spoke about them once or twice in passing, since Jack joined them (Bunny tended to reference to Fruhling about her help with the warren, and Tooth sometimes complained/happily ranted about the increased amount of incidents the kids tend to have in the summer when Somer visited humans).

But despite all that, Jack had never met the other three. In all his 300 plus years, he hadn't caught a glimpse of the elusive spirits of spring, summer and autumn. Even when he tried to arrive early in autumn and stayed long past his time in the spring, he didn't manage to meet them. Hell, he even once ventured into the northern hemisphere during summer, but the only things he got were a heatstroke and a promise to himself to never visit during the hottest month of the season.

Since becoming a Guardian and gaining his memories back, there wasn't even a hint of the others. Except right here and now. It was the first time the other even tried to gain his attention and in a such an unexpected manner. The heat of the wind was a little bit higher than usual and it felt like it was still clinging to the air around Jack…

The white-haired teenager blinked. The heat was indeed still there! It danced playfully on the edges of his cold aura, twining with the cold current, creating a little whirlwind around Jack, before backing away an then repeating the process.

Did it want Jack to follow? Bewildered by the wind's behavior, Jack flew down and the warmer current raced a little bit ahead of him, leading him to the forest sprawled on the other side of the Burgess. The wind led him to a little clearing, surrounded by tall trees. Jack dropped on one of the branches, crouching down and peering around, wondering what the wind, or more accurately the other spirit who asked the wind, wanted from him. His palms itched and he nervously shifted his bare feet against the rough bark. With a start, Jack realized that he was nervous.

He had never met the older seasonal spirits, and somehow he felt unsure of his stance with them. Were they avoiding him, because they didn't approve of him? Or were they just reclusive? (Which was unlikely, considering other spirits talked about them like they were friends.) Or maybe they were just mean and didn't like him?

"What's with that face?"

Jack nearly fell from the branch, as his heart stuttered in his chest from the surprise. He looked down to the source of the voice, a retort practically on his lips, but he paused when he saw the figure underneath.

For a legendary spirit of autumn, the man beneath was… unremarkably average. Oh sure, the cape of autumn leaves and the vivid colour-changing eyes were flashy, and the man himself was tall, even if surprisingly lean (but more muscular than Jack). His auburn hair that flashed red and orange in the sunlight were ruffled from the wind, and besides the cape he wore a simple red tunic and a pair of dark green legginses, though there was a curious belt with different pockets and other things on his waist.

Jack opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, while the man underneath continued to look at him expectantly.

"What face?" Jack finally asked.

"The-the face." The man gestured vaguely towards his own face. His voice was sort of nasally. "Like you were wondering if someone is going to murder you in cold blood and no one will hear your screams."

"Hey, I wasn't looking like-" Jack snapped, before pausing. "Wait, did you just made a pun?"

The man smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "You seem a bit nervous, and humour is always a good way to dissipate the tension."

Jack wouldn't admit that the man was right. "That's such crap. You sound like some sort of a pamphlet for socially stunted people." However, he could admit that the guy was sort of funny.

"Well, considering that I'm talking to a recently 'believed in' spirit, it's appropriate." The man smirked at him, as if reading his mind.

"You know about that?" Jack asked. Honestly, he had thought that the other seasonal spirits didn't give a damn about him, like some of the other spirits.

The man's brown-green eyes softened into a look that Jack couldn't decipher. It looked like sympathy, but was layered with nostalgia and maybe even a little bit of anger and steal resolve.

"We always knew about you Jack Frost." The man cracked a crooked smile. "And I got to say it's a real pleasure to finally meet you face to face and get to know you for real."

A warmth that had nothing to do with the warm wind racing around them unfurled in Jack's chest as he stared at the spirit's honest face.

"Well… I guess it's a pleasure to meet you too, **Haust**."

* * *

 **Author's note:** And that's a wrap on the introduction one-shots! Now I can curl in a dark corner, because of the horrible humour in this chapter. Like seriously? Couldn't I do any better?! *sigh* Jack is relatively easier to write than Rapunzel, but still rather hard. Especially when I had to draw out his angsty/insecure part along with his happy/Guardian part. But I guess I did okay. Let me know if you think Jack (or Hiccup) was OOC, or if there were any mistakes that I missed. I'm still deciding on the next one-shot, but I'm considering to do something with all Big4 together.

 **GoodorEvil132:** Thank you!

 _Sorry for my english, but to be fair, I'm a foreigner. ;D_

 **Old English: winter** (welp talk about constancy! Though it originated from the Germanic (approx. 2000 y. ago) "wentruz" that meant "wet season".)


	5. Ridiculous

**5:** _Ridiculous_

This was absolutely ridiculous, Hiccup thought.

"This is absolutely ridiculous." He decided to voice it out, instead of internally ranting. Because expressing his feelings was a good way of dealing with stress. Well, at least that's what Toothiana keep telling him, but it was Toothiana. She always expressed her feelings out loud.

Though it didn't really help him that much, but he felt a little tiny bit better, because at least this way Toothless joined him into staring at his map. Though the dragon almost immediately lost his interest and returned back to gulping the fish down. (Not that he needed to do it, being a spirit and all that. He just like eating. Selfish, greedy lizard.)

"Should I keep out of this?" Hiccup kept talking. Why was he still talking? "No, wait, I definitely should keep out of this. It isn't really my business, being that it's spring, not autumn. And why do I even bother, of course it concerns me. Come one bud, we are going out!"

Hiccup had to fight Toothless to leave his basket of fish, but soon they were airborne and slipping away from his island, flying towards the general direction of Europe, hoping he will manage to catch them in time. As luck would have it, he caught the familiar tingling of both colder and warmer currents of the air, and Toothless directed him to Valley Kamchatka, where the colder current obviously dominated.

As soon as he caught a glimpse of his targets, he asked Toothless to speed up. He felt a little vindicated, when both his targets let out yelps of surprise when he and his partner careened between the two racing figures.

"Hey! Hiccup, you came to join us?"

"No, Jack. I didn't race here to join you!" Hiccup felt Toothless solidify under him, as they landed on the earth.

"Huh, not to sound unwelcoming then why did you feel the need to race here?" Jack touched earth next to the autumn spirit.

"Well…" Hiccup suddenly paused. "I… came to say that you are ridiculous."

"You raced all the way here, just to say that we are ridiculous?" Rapunzel landed beside Hiccup with a curious and slightly amused look on her face.

"Yes. Yes, I did!" Hiccup threw his hands up. "You know what you did? You made me make myself to get involved!"

"We?.." Jack started confusedly, but Hiccup kept on talking.

"And it was such a nice day too! No explosions or dragon wrangling, or any accidents whatsoever the whole morning, but when I looked at my map, what do I see, huh?"

"Ahaha, soooo you are talking 'bout that." Jack chuckled sheepishly.

"Yes I am talking about - about **_that_**!"

"Oops, sorry Hiccup." Rapunzel had the grace to look guilty, but Hiccup was not tricked by those sad green eyes, because the blonde's lips were twitching in the corners. "I guess we sort of got carried away?"

"Carried away? Carried away its when you keep the heat up till the middle of October." They all collectively winced at that memory of Merida's mishap. "This –whatever is it you do- is just ridiculous! Flowers started to bud in the middle of February, Rapunzel! And Jack, there was a snowstorm in Moscow in the end of **_March_**."

"Well, in my defense. It is normal for them." Jack shrugged, but Hiccup's stare made him raise his hand placatingly.

"I really didn't sign up for this- this _babysitting_! I thought that we all were supposed to pitch in and keep up with the schedule!"

"But Hiccup!" Rapunzel pouted, latching herself to the autumn spirit's arm. "We finally can play tag without avoiding Jack, like before when we were not allowed to talk to him! I had to prolong the fun a little!"

"Rapunzel. This excuse was passable five years ago!"

"I had to make up to all 300+ years!"

Hiccup groaned. "I won't be able to survive this every year."

"Well, it doesn't stop you from hiding from me in the December."

"Shut up, Jack."

* * *

 **Author's note:** Ahahahaha, I'M SO SORRY.

Originally Chap5 was going to be a long chapter full of new information, original (sort of) characters, mythology and Big4 bonding. But, life happened, along with erroring Word, lost doc, and etc. So in other words the writing of original chap5 was put on a (long) hold, and only recently I got back to it. And because there are still way to go (seriously, I think there are less than half of what I intend to write), I decided to make a little gift (and an apology) in the form of this drabble (which is dedicated to the fucked up weather in the world this time of year. Cause seriously. It, like, snowed in the mountains and rained in the city three days ago, and tomorrow they promise +30 celcius)! ;D If everything goes according to plan, I'm gonna post the original 5 (now renamed chap6) in the end of the week, I think.

Big thank you to **werekit** , **Super girl xD** , **He-who-runs-into-walls** and **Cheshide** for favs and follows!

 **j** **ennelyn12:** Sorry, but nope! Yeartide is going to be a collection of one-shots (sometimes drabbles) which will be in different points of the time-line. I posted the introductionary one-shots together, cause they sort of written themeselves out one by one. I spent much time envisioning how those four met, and sort of left out the details on purpose, to explore later in different, longer, one-shots. There is no real definite plot (like no villain to fight against, or secret to discover), just some moments of bonding and every-day life moments. Though, I do not disregard the possibility of making a serious of related one-shots with a plot, but that will probably come later (and hopefully soon). So, to answer all your questions, there will be different one-shots for that (like Jack meeting the girls for the first time, and Mer and Punzie meeting for the first time, or meeting the Guardians for the first time)! ;D And thank you for all the compliments, dear! I hope I won't dissapoint you (or any of the readers) with what I have to offer you!

 _Sorry for my english, but to be fair, I'm a foreigner. ;D_


	6. Hame

**6.1** _Hame_

"North lives in a huge winter wonderland secluded on the North Pole. Tooth lives in the magical floating castle that travels through the sky. Bunny lives under the ground –though seriously how he didn't develop a claustrophobia? – with its own system of tunnels and-"

"As fascinating is it to hear about the Guardians dwellings, about which I know and had visited myself, might I add, is there any point in talking about them?" Hiccup raised an eyebrow at Jack, who was currently draped over napping Toothless and sulkingly blowing snowflakes into the air and spreading frost around. "And stop that, you are ruining my work with your frost."

Jack stopped, but his sulkiness doubled and he pouted at Hiccup.

"Yes, there is a point! Every Guardian has a home base for themselves, their own realms! The place where they work and can relax when needed, the place they can call their own!"

"Except for you." drawled Hiccup with an eye roll.

"Except for me!" Jack nodded. He sat up on Toothless back and crossed his legs, putting his hands on them. "Tell me, how is that fair?"

"Jack you do know that as the seasonal spirit, the whole Earth is practically your realm?"

"Only during certain months, AND then it means I share my realm with three others, and maybe even dozens of more, lesser spirits! And you don't even get to talk! You, and both, Merida and Rapunzel got your own homes!"

Hiccup paused in his work, letting the leaves hover between green and orange colours. He couldn't argue with that point, and frankly, he was getting tired of Jack's rambling…

"Urgh, fine Jack. I'll help you build your own realm."

"Yes!" Jack exclaimed happily, jumping up, thus waking up Toothless, who snapped and grumbled at him half-heartedly. But the winter spirit ignored the dragon, instead bounding up to the other man and swinging his arm around the taller one's shoulders.

"So, where do we start? Gonna build an awesome castle for me? Or maybe let's do the traveling type like Tooth and Sandy? Though, how do they use their magic for that?..."

"First of all, let's make a visit. The basis of every start is the fundament." Hiccup smirked at him, before whistling to Toothless. The black dragon seemed to sigh dejectedly, knowing that he won't be able to finish his nap, before dispersing into the wind and blowing both spirits away from the clearing they occupied.

"Where are we going?" Jack clinged to Hiccup's shoulder, as Toothless sped them through the sky and to the hills.

"You are going to see!" was all the answer the autumn spirit gave, as they swooped through the tree tops of the nearest forest and plunged into the semi-darkness of the woods.

The air was tinged with the pleasant coolness of upcoming autumn, but the sun was still warm from the summer months, and the shade of the woods was pleasant for Jack. They raced through the branches and leaves, Toothless helping them to nimbly avoid the unwanted collisions (though he did make a few branches slap Jack's face). In their wake some greenery changed their colours into the autumn hue and some even got covered in the thinnest layer of frost, from both his and Hiccup's powers. But they didn't look back. Jack was squinting forward, trying to guess where exactly the older spirit was taking him, when a tingle traveled up his spine, indicating that he had crossed a magical line, and instantly the forest around them changed. The greenery was in its full vibrancy and the sun seemed to be shining with the renewed vigor, the taste of summer heat was everywhere.

"Is it?..." Jack asked in awe, eyes wide and drinking in the scenery.

"Yep. Welcome to **_Dunsommer*_** , the Fort of Summer!" As soon as those words left Hiccup's lips, they rose above the treetops, from where they could see a stone castle sprawled on the hillside, surrounded by the green forest.

"Wow…Merida is going to be so pissed you brought me here."

"Yep."

They flew over the outer walls of the castle and landed in the outer courtyard, which seemed to be crowded, as if the inhabitants of the castle already knew they were arriving. Jack couldn't help but gasp and stare when he saw who waited for them.

Surrounding them were different animals, but not just simple animals, but bipedal, talking animals, and some of them were even dressed in clothes! Jack gaped at the whispering creatures, taking in the many different species, from hares to wolves, from deer to mountain lions, even a few goats and pigs! But one species seemed to be dominating the crowd, and those were the bears. Bears of every colour and size, whispering and looking at him with their beady black eyes, dressed in fancy armour or in a simple tunics, standing on all fours or on their hind legs.

"Master Haust!" Jack heard a few of them call out to Hiccup, who nodded and smiled pleasantly at the bizarre crowd surrounding them, obviously not bothered by the talking animals. Toothless, who decided to make his presence known, solidified into his dragon form and wound up around them two, making the crowd titter even more in excitement, and a few "Master Night Fury!" to be called out.

"A'right, a'right! What's the fuss all about in here?" A familiar voice called out from the entrance of the castle, and the crowd parted like water to allow the familiar red-head to approach the guests.

"Mistress Sommer, Master Haust and Master Night Fury came to visit along with Master Frost." Someone from the crowd announced.

Jack jolted at the title, bewildered, but he didn't have time to wonder, because Merida rounded up on him and Hiccup.

"I noticed that! What I don't understand is why exactly they are here, when _Master Haust_ and _Master Frost_ has work to do! It's autumn already!" The mocking tone when she spoke their title was painfully obvious, but Merida didn't seem too angry like Jack had predicted, just a tad bit annoyed, as she poked them both in the chests. He was however surprised when she turned to the crowd. "And you have work to do too, people! It's not enough that you dwandle about in my castle, but now you are even ignoring the work in favour of gawking at two idiots. Chop-chop, now, get to work!"

The crowd dispersed with obvious reluctance, a few animals lingering behind and throwing looks at them. Jack was surprised to notice that many of them looked at him and broke out in exciting whispers, before leaving.

"A'right, why are you here?" Merida turned back to them, crossing her arms in front of her. Jack finally noticed that she seemed to be dressed in a workout clothes, consisting of simple brown pants, dark-green tunic and comfortable boots, obviously designed to not hinder her movements. On her hip was strapped a sword, and her hair was frazzled.

"Sorry for interrupting your training Merida, but Jack here has a little problem." Hiccup said a little bit too cheerfully, and clapped Jack on the shoulder. The winter spirit winced when Merda focused on him.

"Well, Hiccup said that- I just thought- Sorry, but I can't concentrate right now." Jack fumbled, his mind still processing what he saw. "What's up with all those animals? And, like, you live in a castle! That's so weird! And why do they call us 'Masters' and 'Mistress'? It was even weirder-"

"Awww, is the wee lamb overwhelmed?" Merida snickered at Jack, who looked like an awed kid as he gestured wildly with each question. Even Hiccup couldn't hide his smirk at the enthusiasm of the winter spirit.

"Overwhelmed? No!" Jack denied, trying to reign in his emotions. "Just, a little curious, I guess?" he offered lamely.

The other two laughed openly at him now and even Toothless seemed to be amused, on his perch on the castle wall, where he escaped from a few too friendly animals.

"Alright, alright, laugh it up! I'm always here for your amusement." Jack grumbled.

"Sorry, sorry. I tend to forget that you are essentially unfamiliar with some aspects of the spirit world." Hiccup calmed down and exchanged a look with still snickering Merida.

"Yeah, the white hair confuses us. You are, after all, is still a wee small babe in spirit's terms." The summer spirit patted the pouting Jack on the head

"I am 300 and plus some years old." Jack grumbled, not amused.

"And yet, you are still a wee babe~" Merida sung mockingly.

"Okay, Merida that's enough." Hiccup, sensing an impending fight, interjected between them. "I think Jack needs some explanations and a tour around the Fort, what do you think?"

"Ugh, fine! It's not like I had anything important to do." Merida shrugged her shoulders and turned around to walk back into the castle. She gestured for them to follow her and the boys did so. Jack raised an eyebrow when he noticed that Toothless raced away in the other direction, but Hiccup just shook his head at his questioning gaze. Letting it go, Jack allowed himself to study the castle as they walked.

It really seemed to be different from any other castles he had seen. And being the invisible spirit for 300 years, he had an opportunity to visit many during his travels. (He still fondly remembers the winter of 1900, when someone forgot to close the window in Versailles and he had a blast in exploring all the rooms and confusing the heck out of people who found frost and got chills in the supposedly closed off and warm rooms.) Unlike some of the luxurious castle that he had seen in Russia, England and other countries, Merida's castle was more like its name, a fort or a citadel. The design that was similar to Scotland's castles, with rough and sturdy gray stone, but elegant in its simplicity. The inside was not heavily decorated, and what little metal decoration it had was mostly rusty looking. There were a lot of weapons and armor, though, and quite a lot of gobelens lining the walls.

"Those critters need to learn that I don't like it when they clamor around, its enough that they refuse to go to you during the autumn because of those beasts." Meanwhile Merida was talking, shooting a look at Hiccup at the last part. Jack paused in his silent observation and leaned closer to the others.

"So, who were those animals?"

Merida gestured at Hiccup, who raised an amused eyebrow and turned to explain to Jack.

"Those 'animals' are not actually animals Jack. They are the guardian spirits of their species."

"What?" Jack's eyes grew rounder.

"Yeah. Every animal has their spiritual guardians that look over them and protect them to some extent. You know that many animals became extinct since humans didn't control the hunting before and begun illegal poaching, along with the environmental pollution and other stuff? So, the spiritual guardians try to protect their species from becoming extinct. They do not disturb the natural cycle of life, but they do step in when something else, most commonly humans, endangers their species or the ecosystem. Sometimes they help them to keep up birthrate, or relocate them to more prosperous location, but sometimes when its impossible to help in any way, they try to hide the endangered species as far away as possible."

"Wow, I didn't know about that. But why are they here, in Merida's Fort?" Jack looked at Merida, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, the animals live in synch with nature, Frost. The same is with the seasons, they live in synch with them. During some seasons, they hibernate, during other, they breed and continue their line, it all depends on the species of course. The animal guardians usually control such things, and because of that they often work with us, so to say."

"For example." Hiccup pointed out through the one of the open doorways they were walking past. Jack peaked inside. There were two big wolves, easily the height of Merida and Jack, one with silver fur, the other with midnight black, dressed in some sort of shimmering gold robes and standing on their hind legs. They were bent over a table, seemingly deep in discussion, but their head snapped up as soon as the three spirits paused outside their door.

"Masters, Mistress." The midnight black wolf intoned politely, inclining its head. It had a deep rumbling voice that was obviously male, and his eyes were of deep green colour. The wolf with the silver fur had a pair of molten golden eyes, that seemed to shine in curiosity at their unexpected company.

"Hey guys, this is Jack Frost, the newly declared Guardian of Childhood and Spirit of Winter. Jack, these are Amarok and Vivian, one of the many offsprings of the Wolf Queen Lupa and King Conri." Hiccup introduced them.

"Its an honor to meet you, Master Frost." The silver wolf, Vivian, said in a pleasant voice. While Amarok just stared at Jack.

"Yeah, its nice to meet you too, I guess." Said Jack awkwardly, feeling slightly uncomfortable under Amarok's gaze. "Uh, what were you doing here?"

"Oh, Amarok and I were discussing the placement of two wolf packs." Vivian gestured Jack, Hiccup and Merida closer to the table, while Amarok continued to keep his silence. "You see, in North America one of the wolf packs decided to move into the territory next to the already established and thriving pack. To avoid the conflict we are thinking to move them into a more suitable location, where they can settle and be ready for the approaching winter."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense, no need for unnecessary bloodshed, if there is a chance it can be avoided?"

"Yes, that's right. Everybody deserves a chance like that." Vivian seemed to be absurdly pleased with Jack's words.

"Alrighty-o, we have an unplanned tour to get back to. We will leave you to your discussion." Merida herded Hiccup and Jack back out of the room, nodding goodbye to the two wolves.

"Sorry, I just needed to get away from Amarok." The red-head said to them, when they were far enough from the room. "While Vivian is nice, that guy is just too depressing."

"What was all that with staring, anyway?" Jack added.

"Well, every Guardian Animal has their own designation, so to say. While Amarok is a wolf of the night, forest and stealth, he is also a Spirit of Lonesome Regret." Hiccup answered with an apologetic twist of his lips.

"Oh." Jack's eye twitched.

"Yeah. As I said, depressing. I prefer to deal with one of his brothers more."

"And his brother is?.."

"Amoux, the wolf of air, sky, wind and flight and a Spirit of Freedom."

"That's fitting." Jack nodded. "And what about Vivian?"

"She's the Spirit of Chance, and wolf of faith and art. That's why she was fixed on 'chances' you know. Though some rumors say that its because she was once a human girl, who was given a chance to live immortal as a wolf." Hiccup shrugged.

"That's… surprisingly not surprising. Spirit logic is weird." Jack rolled his eyes. "So, I guess I get about the animal guardians, but what about all the bears here? Seriously, there were like a dozen of them in the courtyard."

Jack jumped in surprise when Merida groaned loudly and smacked her forehead and Hiccup erupted into laughter.

"It was not my idea to let her in here! She just forced her way in here, like she always does!" Merida complained loudly, gesturing with her hands to emphasize her point. "That woman is a menace!"

"Who is a menace here?!" A shrill voice asked from behind Merida, as the red-head jumped away with a yelp, revealing a small old lady with a wild bush of hair glaring at the spirit of summer and wielding a cane like a blunt weapon.

"You are, you witch!" Merida snarled, but it was done half-heartedly, like she knew that her words won't have any effect. And indeed the elderly woman absolutely ignored the seething red-head, instead turning her head to look straight at Jack.

"My-my, what do we have here!" The old woman sung gleefully, advancing at Jack, but not before smacking the laughing Hiccup on the knee with her cane, making the spirit of autumn yelp and grumble 'Just like Gothi, sheesh'.

Jack froze in indecision, wondering if it would be cowardly to back away from the old lady, while holding his stuff in front of him like a shield. But the decision was taken out of his hands, as the old woman with a surprising for her strength tugged him down and started to examine his face, skin, hair and clothes.

"Such a young lad, and already a spirit! My-my, MIM certainly lowered his standards! In my time, you won't become a spirit unless you were magical or lived long-enough to lose all hair!" At this she ruffled through Jack's white hair, picking out a few strands with her fingers. "And such power too! What an interesting boy, indeed."

"Uh, lady-" Jack tried to squirm away from the unbelievably strong grip. He started to contemplate blasting her with ice, when she suddenly released him and hobbled back to Merida.

"Bad-mouthing me again lassie? After all I've done for you! And in front of the new guest too!"

"'All you've done'?! I never asked you to come here and invade my castle with your stupid wood carvings and to bring your bears with you!" Merida shot back.

"Don't you slander my wood carvings!"

"Or what, you will give me another cake?"

"Are they always like that?" Jack asked Hiccup, who leaned against the wall as they watch the two females argue.

"Yeah, pretty much. They have a weird relationship like that. She knew Merida when she was alive, though, so I am not surprised."

"When she was alive!" Jack exclaimed in his surprise, gaining the attention of the arguing duo.

"Yes, when this lassie was still alive, I had helped her to change her fate!-" the old woman sniffed dramatically.

"You turned my mother into a bear! A B-E-A-R." Merida pointed out.

"Wow, wow, back up a little! How old are you then? You became a spirit at the same time as Hiccup here?" Jack asked the old lady, who grimaced at him.

"'A spirit'? Bah! Such blasphemy!"

"She's a witch, Jack." Merida answered to Jack. "A poor excuse of the witch at that! Seriously, all you do is turn everyone into bears, no matter what type of spell you use!"

"Aaaand that's why there are so many bears here." said Hiccup, as Merida and the old woman started arguing again.

"All of them were humans?" Jack asked, horrified at the other's admittance and nonchalance.

"Sort of. From what I gathered, the bear spell is actually pretty useful if you figure it out like Merida did. But even if some didn't, it was on their heads, because witch had warned them. But sometime even the warning is not enough, and some didn't learn their lessons. So, when they… enter the spirit realm they are given a choice to repent, while in her service." Hiccup nodded at the witch. "When the lesson is learned and the repentance is earned, the spirit is allowed to move onward."

"But I am a busy woman and have no time to work with all those spirits, so I decided that they will be more useful with lassie." The witch, who apparently decided to ignore the argument for the moment, patted Merida on the hand.

"In other words, she dumped them on me, so they will earn their atonement." Merida rolled her eyes.

"Well, its not like they were not useful." The witch said cheerfully.

"I had to give them some work, so they won't mope around and lose the chance to move onward, I'm not that cruel." Merida said to Jack, and gestured for them to follow her. They walked deeper into the castle until they reached a big double-set door.

"So, I decided to let them help with my little side project."

The door opened into one of the biggest rooms Jack had seen here. It looked like some sort of library, with bookshelves lining every inch of the high walls, and books and scrolls pilling on different tables. In the room there were at least ten bears that seemed to work with the books and scrolls.

"I started to keep records of every clan of Scotland, since my father's reign, and it somehow escalated into keeping records of everything that have ever happened in Scotland. It would have been a little smaller if not for that Treaty, so there is a section for United Kingdom too-"

"WOW, wait up!" Jack whirled towards Merida. "'Since your FATHER'S reign'?!"

"Yes, Frost, do keep up." She crossed her arms.

"Wait, but that means, you were-"

"Queen Merida of the clan DunBroch, the former Runaway Bride-to-be, the Changer of Fate, the reason for the unity of the four main clans of Scotland, the Bear Queen and the Best Archer of all times." The witch added helpfully.

"No amount of flattery from you will work." Merida narrowed her eyes at the witch. "And the 'Queen Bear' title actually belongs to my mother!"

"Wow,wah- what?" Jack gaped. "Queen?!"

"He's a little slow on the uptake, ain't he?" The witch said to Hiccup.

"Can't blame him. When I found out, I walked around with the same face for at least three days." The spirit of autumn nodded at Jack who looked at Merida with an incredulous and dumbfounded look.

"I think I need to sit down. It's too much to take in." Jack mumbled, blindly plopping himself down on the nearest surface, which was one of the less occupied desks.

"So sensitive, Frost." Merida mocked, cocking her hip. Hiccup nudged her with his elbow with a smirk.

"Hey, it is such a shock to discover this wild little spirit of summer is the former Queen!"

"Oh, shut it, Mister 'I'm the Alpha!'"

"I will pretend not to hear that, because any more shocking information will be the end of me." Jack huffed out the breath with a laugh, letting his hands run through his hair. He yelped when suddenly something hit him in the back, jumping from the table and turning around. His mouth gaped open, when he saw a bear, dressed in a robe and wielding a big scroll, looming over him, with a disgruntled look on its muzzle.

He couldn't stop himself from flinching when the bear roared at him. But instead of being eaten alive (he had an active imagination!), the bear started grunting and roaring, while gesturing onto his suddenly frost-covered table.

"Ehehe-he-he-he… Oops?"

"Ach, calm down Joa, it's just a little frost, the papers should be okay." Merida sighed, flicking her fingers, causing a heat wave to roll over the table, harmlessly melting the frost. The bear, didn't look happy nor relieved, it just continued to grunt and gesture at Merida. "Yes, I know, I know. I will get to it. Sooner or later." She added the last part under her breath, when Joa turned away with a huff.

"You still can't get that scroll?" Hiccup asked Merida, who shook her head with a grimace.

"Father Time is being stubborn. He is grumpy since the last time I asked for help, and now he refuse to help, without an 'epic quest to prove that you are not munching off of me'." She imitated the high-pitched scratchy voice that was supposed to be Father Time's.

Jack, who finally stopped staring warily at the bear (who shot him dirty looks), turned with a raised eyebrow at them and a little smirk on his lips. "I have never met Father Time. Is he as grouchy as Bunny described?"

"Even more so." Merida snickered.

"Come on, he is not that bad." Hiccup rolled his eyes at two giggling spirits.

"Hey, where did the witch go?" Jack noticed the lack of certain old lady.

"Don't pay attention to her. She just does that. Pop in and out, when people less expect her." Merida shrugged her shoulders, leading the boys out of the records room and back into the corridors of the castle.

"And what she said is true? All those titles and stuff?" Jack gestured vaguely at his head, as if imitating a crown.

"Aye. That's the truth." Merida admitted, though she sounded less enthusiastic than the witch. "I had ruled over my people for over 40 years, ever since my little brothers each refused the crown after my father's death. Those little buggers dared to say that they are not fit for the ruling, when in reality they just wanted to travel." While Merida's words were annoyed, on her face was almost a tender, fond look that Jack understood to some extent.

"You had brothers?" He asked quietly and Merida nodded.

"Aye, Triplets, mischievous wee devils. They could get away with murder and no one will say a word, because no one will even notice!" Merida laughed, her voice happy if a little wistful. "They had discovered the secret passages in our home, way before they could even speak clearly, and what havoc they wrecked when nobody was looking!"

Jack smiled. "They sound like they were amazing. Like my sort of people." He snickered, before sobering a little. "Emma… my sister, was not a mischievous kid. She was sort of shy, but when push came to shove, she stood up for herself, and she was really good at playing games! And I guess, that the 'get-away with murder' thing is common for younger siblings. I couldn't even begin to count how many times I got in trouble with our parents, but Emma was their little girl, and she did get away with more than me."

"Parents always tend to be harsher on us, older children, aye?"

"That's an understatement."

While they talked about their siblings, Jack didn't notice Hiccup trailing a little bit behind them with a little smile on his face, as he watched them.

They exited the corridor into a big hall, a sort of ballroom, with a raised pedestal at the far wall with a simple stone throne standing upon it. The ceiling was high, and the walls were decorated with live vines that grew to the very top. Long, narrow windows lined the walls, high near the ceiling, allowing the natural light filter through, though along the walls were ignited lamps with flickering orange-yellow and blue lights.

"This is a sort of throne room and a receiving room." Merida explained, noticing Jack's gaze at the throne. "I would have been happy to leave this room be, but it's easier to make announcements or have discussions in here, when anyone who wants to speak can stand up on the pedestal next to the throne." She grimaced. "And I always had to play judge in such discussions, and sit all prim and proper on this stupid lump of stone." She kicked the mentioned throne. "And no cushion can make it comfortable, I swear to God. I tried like thousands of them, but my butt still grows numb every time."

"Too much information about your butt, DunBroch." Jack snickered, from his place in the middle of the room, where he slowly turned around to take everything in. To the left of the pedestal he noticed a big table, with something on it. Curious, Jack went closer to it, and was surprised to discover it was a big map of the world, drawn in a style that strongly reminded him of tapestries and gobelens that lined the walls of Merida's castle. Jack squinted when he noticed something strange on the map.

"Are those pictures moving?!" Jack exclaimed, because indeed they were. The lines of different colours that moved over oceans and land in the pattern he recognized as air currents, the drawing of clouds were moving along with them too, like they were pushed by the winds. Some of them were light and fluffy, but some were heavy rain clouds and Jack could swear he saw lightning in one of them. The lightness of the colours on the map seemed to be dependent on the drawing of the sun, which was situated over the top of the parchment, beyond the edge of the map, and was moving slowly along the line. There was also a drawing of the moon, along with a scatter of stars that seemed to twinkle from the edges of the parchment.

"This is the Weather Map." Hiccup said as he and Merida stood next to Jack and peered at the map. "Each one of us has one like this. It allows us to keep an eye out for the weather changes, natural phenomena and other stuff, like- oh, look! The volcano erupted in Iceland."

"What?!" Jack exclaimed, staring at a tiny picture of a volcano bubbling lava, as if afraid it will eat through the paper.

"Relax. It is one of those that was scheduled, so the villages nearby were evacuated and the scientists are currently going nuts over the data." Merida shrugged dismissively, taking a hold of Jack's sleeve and dragging him away from the table, Hiccup following behind them. She led them into another corridor which led to a door outside into a sort of backyard.

Of course, if yards of the territory could be called a simple 'backyard'. The open space stretched out miles to the left, and at the furthest edge Jack could barely make out the tree line of the forest. The rolling hills were contrasted greatly with the scenery on the right, which grew into steep rock hills and little valleys just a few hundred meters from where they were standing.

"Woah. What's wrong with the landscape. All I saw in the air is the forest around the castle."

Merida and Hiccup shot him a weird look, after which Jack usually felt a little bit stupid and irritated, because darn it, he didn't know every thing about magic and spirit stuff, okay?

"Just some simple dimension altering magic." Hiccup still was looking at him, while speaking slowly. "Like, you know, with Bunnymund's tunnels and Toothiana's cloud entrances. Merida's castle can be found through the forest, but it can also be connected to other places, like these ones."

"Yeah, the hills are actually situated somewhere in the north of Scotland, and the valley's and rock face are what was left of the FireFalls, not too far from my place of birth." Merida indicated them, before turning back to the wall of the castle, and Jack finally turned his attention to the backyard itself.

Near the castle wall was built some sort of training arena. There was a sort of obstacle course made of wood beams, hay stacks and stone. And of course a firing range, with dummies made of various materials (from cloth to stone) situated on different heights, lengths and places. Near them, there was a circle of earth, with racks of different weapons (in pristine condition might he add) around, obviously a sort of fighting/training arena.

"Huh, neat." Jack commented.

Merida shot him a predatory smirk. "Maybe you wanna try this out, Frost?"

"Uh, no, thanks. I am a joker, not a fighter."

"Glad to hear something that we agree on. By the way, Hiccup." She addressed the autumn spirit, who had wandered off to examine the sword on one of the weapon racks. "I need you to whip up a couple more of those nifty catapults of yours."

"What? Merida, you go through them like candies, I already made you 8 of them only a month ago!"

"What can I say? I get carried away, destroying them. They are a good training exercise!"

"You are horrible."

"Wait, you make catapults?" Jack blinked at Hiccup, who shrugged and made a 'so-so' gesture with his hand.

Merida stretched her arms above her head with a yawn. "Well, I guess that's it, boys. The tour is over."

"What! We haven't even seen half of the rooms there are in here!" Jack complained. "And I even didn't get how this is supposed to help me with-"

"Well, in this case, let's move on to our next destination! You with us, Merida?" Hiccup hurriedly herded Jack away from the castle, before addressing Merida, who shrugged in response.

"Why not? It'll be fun."

"Wait, why-" Jack was interrupted again by a roar let out by Hiccup, and an answering roar from Toothless who quickly bounded into the backyard, looking smug and happy, while shaking off feathers from his scales.

"Ok, stop interrupting me, just answer myyyAAAAAA-"

Jack let out a short scream when Toothless blasted all three of them from the earth at a dizzying speed. Through his slight disorientation he barely felt the moment they left the boundaries of the Dunsommer, but he managed to gather his bearings quick enough to shoot glares at Merida and Hiccup who were smirking at him.

"I'm starting to see a pattern here, and I don't like it." Jack grumbled, as he summoned the colder wind to gently wrap around him through Toothless rather warm hold.

"Aw, cheer up, Frost. You'll get used to getting blasted and tugged around by those two." Merida flew over Jack and jerked her thumb at Hiccup. "It used to piss me off every time they did it. Be glad that you are immortal and can fly yourself, or they would have played 'fetch' with you."

"We are not that bad." Hiccup retorted, but there was unhidden amusement in his eyes.

"You are and don't deny it."

They maneuvered to avoid a tower of a church, and Jack was reminded of something he wanted to ask Merida.

"Hey DunBroch!" Merida cocked her head in question. "I was meaning to ask, but I sort of got distracted. Is Dunsommer the castle you have lived in when you were alive?"

There was a pause from the summer spirit, and Jack noticed Hiccup shooting Merida an unreadable look, but Merida's face was normal when she answered.

"Nay. This castle belonged to the legendary King of the Old Times, it was destroyed after his sons had a feud, and wasn't used for a long time." Merida snorted, shaking her hair from her face, which trailed after her like streaks of fire through the air. "Actually, when I decided to make it my base, it was pretty much nothing but crumbling stone, wild forest and vague shapes of the castle. I had to ask Spirits of the Land to help with the cleansing of the earth, while Mr. Alpha here had to negotiate with the Mountain Trolls for stone, and then we had to search for volunteers to help build the foundation and stuff. Somewhere closer to the end, the Witch showed up and got her bears here. The animal guardians sort of appeared one day too, bringing stuff to decorate and put the finishing touches." Merida shrugged. "Over the time the other things sort of slid into their places, and I guess now its home for me." There was a nostalgic note in the red-head's voice, but she quickly shook herself out of her reverie.

"And what about your… first home?" Jack asked hesitantly, and almost instantly regretted it. He didn't see Merida's face, because the other spirit flew a little bit ahead of him, but he did notice the tense line of her shoulders and hands clenched into fists.

"Lost. A long time ago." The summer spirit answered stonily. Jack shot Hiccup a desperate look, to which the older male just shook his head grimly, but his eyes were understanding.

"Come on guys, I think here will be okay." Hiccup took the lead, turning right and going down. They descendent towards a big lake with a small town on its shore, shrouded in mist. Toothless slowed down considerably, so the three of them barely disturbed the air and water, as they flew over the lake and into the middle of the white fog. Jack opened his mouth to say something , but practically swallowed his unvoiced words, when another magic-induced shiver trailed up his spine. And like that time with Dunsommer, the air changed around them as they crossed the magical border, but this time instead of summer heat, the sweet tangle of spring fragrance greeted them.

* * *

 **Author's note:** Well, this one was supposed to be much bigger, but since I am a horrible human being who couldn't write it all out, I decided to separate it into four parts, and finally give you a long promised update. (Like really, I feel so bad right now, because I have absolutely no intention of abandoning this fic.)

So yeah, I guess I really should promised to update soon, cause it really backfires on me. So I will just say: Enjoy the update!

Thank yous to **rachel maude 71** , **SidheWolf5** and **Shannon Rei** for Favs and Follows! And Special thanks to _**jennelyn12**_! You know for what.)

And just a (late) warning THIS CHAP IS FULL OF BS. Like. I made up like shit tonn of stuff and OCs here, just because I can. So. yeah. Just a warning. xD

 **Trivia:**

 **Joa the Grumpy Bear** \- name is a shortened version of Joaquin Phoenix a person who voiced Kenai from Brother Bear.

 **The Witch** \- like heck if I know how long witches live, but here it is nod towards both Gothel from Tangled, and to the Great Pixar Theory.

 **The Dunsommer castle** \- Yes, I decided to use Mordu's destroyed castle. It is it. Just renovated.

 _(Elder Wolves)_ **Conri** \- Wolf King, Wolf or Knowledge, Thought, Wisdom, Speech,  & Divination. (Spirit of Magic) Wise Wolf of the North.

 **Lupa** \- Wolf Queen, Wolf of Motherhood, Children, Astrology, Stars, Peace, Balance,  & Dreams. (Spirit of Visions) Gentle Wolf of the South.

 _(Alpha Wolves)_ **Amoux** \- Wolf of Birds, Bats, Air, Sky, Wind, Weather,  & Flight. (Spirit of Freedom) Son of Lupa & Conri.

 **Amarok** \- Wolf of the Night, Forest,  & Stealth (Spirit of Lonesome Regret) Son of Lupa & Conri.

 _(Beta Wolves)_ **Vivian** \- Once a young girl. Wolf of Hope, Faith, Worship, Grace, Storytelling, Poetry, Song,  & Art. (Spirit of Chance) Daughter of Lupa.

 _(Info about wolves taken from goodreads)_

 _Sorry for my english, but to be fair, I'm a foreigner. ;D_

 **Scottish: Hame** \- Home;

 **Dunsommer*** \- Fort of summer.


	7. Heim

**6.2** _Heim_

For all the unexpectedness of Jack's visit to Dunsommer, the sight of the castle in the vibrant summer forest was a sight familiar enough for him, and it paled slightly in comparison to the view that was before him now. The Dunsommer was grand and imposing, no mistake, but what had opened before him in the middle of the lake, literally took Jack's breath away.

 _It is like stepping into a fairy tale_ , Jack thought.

In the middle of the bright blue water of the lake was an island. It was not overly big; probably half a size of his hometown Burgess, but it was so bright that Jack had to wonder if it was glowing from the inside. But no, the brightness could be accounted to the thousands or probably millions flowers blooming in grass, bushes, trees and other plant life that practically overflew the whole island. Jack was sure that he hadn't even known that half of those colours existed before. And he was definitely sure that many of those plants have long since ceased to exist on the Earth too. But while someone might mistake the chaos of colours as a natural occurrence, Jack clearly saw signs that pointed out that it was a garden. The most amazing, magical (and obviously well-cared for) garden, he had ever seen. And in the middle of this garden, stood a lone tower that rose up far into the clouds, and probably went even further up. The tower was made from the pure white stone that gleamed yellow in the sun, and he clearly could see only the higher part of the tower, because the lower was covered in the vibrant green vines trailing up the stone, with blooming flowers of all shades of purple and violet on them.

Jack was so entranced with the view, that he missed the smiles of amusement exchanged between the older spirits. He continued to stare, even when Toothless descendent them into the midst of the mini-field of tall yellow flowers. He would have continued to gape like a fool, if something hadn't hit him in the head, making him snap out of his stupor.

"Ouch! Who threw that?" Jack turned around and looked down, noticing a small smooth stone lying innocently on the grass. He looked around to find the culprit, but saw only rustling bushes and heard high sound of tinkling bells. Toothless' ear plates perked up at the sounds and the Night Fury with a throaty sound leaped into the bushes, that tinkling accompanying his excited barks. Jack shot a half-hearted glare after him, before crouching down and picking up the stone, which glinted blue in the sun.

"Come on Jack, we've got to find Rapunzel, so she would give you a tour of the _**Turm der Frühling**_." Hiccup and Merida waited him next to the tower's wall, and Jack with a last glare at the giggling bushes, pocketed the little stone and hurried towards them.

"So, how do we get in?" Jack asked when he noticed that under all that vines the white brick wall was smooth, without even a hint of the door. He was distracted with studying the wall, that he didn't notice the wicked smirk that crossed Merida's face, as she walked up behind him.

"Don't worry Frost." And with those words she pushed Jack into the wall. Jack didn't even manage to shout in alarm, when the vines on the wall came alive and wrapped around every inch of his body and tugged him through the stone. There was a brief feeling of disorientation and darkness, before Jack found himself blinking out the spots in the unexpected light as he was released and disposed onto the floor.

"What the heck DunBroch!" Jack rubbed his eyes, squinting back where he 'entered' just in time to see Merida and Hiccup stepping out from the vines, completely unfazed.

"Relax Frost, just a wee transportation magic. Haven't hurt anyone before!" Merida strolled past Jack and Hiccup just shook his head, and clapped Jack on the shoulder, leading him further into the circular room they were transported into, which he finally could inspect without spots dancing in his vision.

It was homey, Jack noted. A simple stone floor covered in dark green and pale brown carpet, with couches and tables scattered around, along with an alarming amount of shelves with various things on them. The colours in the room varied from pale purple of one of the more worn out couches, to deep dark red of a the wood shelves, with splashes of pale yellow and green of the painted wooden tables and chairs. While it looked a little funny with such different assortment of the furniture that was obviously from completely different eras and made in different styles, everything was arranged in such way that they didn't clash horribly with each other, but rather created a nice cozy atmosphere.

There was also various blankets and quilts folded on almost every couch or armchair, and tables were piled with pots with different plants and flowers, and books. With a closer look on the shelves, Jack noticed that there were not only books, but a bewildering amount of knick-knacks that served absolutely no purpose. From the simple cheap-looking snow globes (definitely not the magical ones), to the obviously handmade clay figurines of popular landmarks (there were at least seventeen different Eiffel towers!). His eyes jumped from one thing to another, and with each one, his bewilderment grew.

"Woah, that's a lot of stuff here."

"Oh, you haven't even seen a _fraction_ of it yet." Merida snorted from her place in the middle of the room. She was standing under an open part of the ceiling, framed with the familiar vines. Jack cautiously stood next to her, peering upwards into the opening which was wide enough for him to probably fly through with his arms outstretched and barely touch the edges. He gave a low whistle when he saw that the 'tunnel' seemed to be stretching up into a white infinity.

"Does it even have an end?" he asked Hiccup. The autumn spirit stood next to him and gave him a look.

"Of course it does. Now, up we go!" Both Merida and Hiccup took a hold of Jack's shoulders and flew into the opening.

Despite the fact that they flew up, Jack felt like he just blinked and suddenly he was in a completely different room. He glanced down, noticing that, while they were hovering only a couple of meters over the opening in the floor, there was the same white blankness that stretched downwards. He glanced up, and yep. The same.

"Is this another sort of transportation magic?" he asked in wonderment, as the wind swirled around them to keep them floating.

"Yeah, Rapunzel had to expand the tower after a few decades since it was built. She had to make room for all the stuff she keeps bringing in." Hiccup explained, gesturing around the floor they were currently on, that was in the same cluttered but cozy state as the first one. But unlike in the previous one, this one had a collection of different musical instruments covering every inch of it. There were chairs and tables piled with sheets with notes. It even had a little raised stage surrounded by chairs, presumably for performances.

Merida, who was oddly silent, cocked her head to the left. "She is in the kitchen."

"Which one?" asked Hiccup.

"Uh, 'which'? As in more than one? And why does she even need a kitchen?" Jack raised an eyebrow, but was ignored, as Merida answered.

"Victorian."

They flew up too fast for Jack to see which rooms they passed (but he was sure he caught glimpses of rock sculptures and a garden?), so he had to blink back the blur of afterimages from his eyes when they finally stopped and landed on the floor.

"Oh, hello Jack, Merida and Hiccup! I didn't expect anyone to visit today. Are you on business or just a social visit?" Rapunzel greeted them with a cheerful smile, even if she didn't stop moving around the kitchen.

The kitchen was done in simple style; the walls were in pastel colours and painted green on the lower part. There was a big black stove with cheerfully cracking fire, and on top of it whistled a kettle. The cabinets along the walls were filled with different jars and glasses with spices and preserves, and other edible things. On the ceiling there were strung different dried vegetables and herbs, hanging in such manner so that the wind from the open window allowed their smell to waft through the room. The big wooden table, around which Rapunzel moved, was also filled with different types of fresh food; there were tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, sweet pepper, cucumbers and so much more, more than Jack had ever seen on one table ever (He wondered how the table didn't crack under the weight).

It was obvious that Rapunzel was cooking for quite some time already, judging by the amount of dishes, the divine smells in the kitchen and her state. Her hair was made in a long braid and pinned up, and she was dressed in a simple pale green and purple dress, with short puffed-up sleeves and golden embroidery along the hems. Her face, hands and a good amount of dress were all smudged with flour, as she continued to roll and kneed some kind of dough.

"You know me, Rapunzel, 'Social' is my middle name!" Hiccup cheerfully strolled to the spring spirit, while trying to inconspicuously checking the contents of the table.

Rapunzel raised an eyebrow at him. "Correct me, if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure your middle name is 'Horrendous'. And if given a choice you would have holed up on your island with your inventions."

"You know him so well." Merida smirked, as she quite obviously walked up to the table and took a bowl of blueberries, popping a few in her mouth.

"Your name is Hiccup Horrendous?" Jack snorted at Hiccup, who was trying to discreetly snatch a piece of dough as Rapunzel turned to shoot a look at Merida.

"You haven't heard the other part." Merida snickered.

"There is another?"

Merida made a dramatic sweep with the hand not busy with the bowl of blueberries. "May I present you, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III!"

Jack couldn't help his laughter, especially when the autumn spirit choked on his stolen piece of dough, when Merida said his full name.

"Aw man, I'm supposed to be a respected elder here!" Hiccup coughed out, shooting a playful glare at Merida. "Now I'll be constantly taunted by Jack here, because you couldn't keep your mouth shut."

"I wouldn't dare!" Jack gasped dramatically. "To mock someone with such a fear-inspiring name!"

"See what you did there Merida. There was a reason I do not tell everyone my full name."

"Aw, it is so amusing that you can't handle a little bit of mocking Mr. Haddock."

Hiccup threw his hands up in mock annoyance.

The winter spirit snickered at them, addressing Merida. "Glad I could entertain your Majesty." Jack smirked with satisfaction at the scowl that Merida sent his way. He probably won't get completely over the fact that the red-head was the Queen in her living years, but for now he could make jokes about it.

Rapunzel giggled at them while putting finishing touches on the dish she was doing, before setting the pastry into the oven. "So, what has warranted the social visit from the three of you? I think it's the first time you have ever came to my place, right Jack?"

"Well, it isn't like I knew where to find you." Jack shrugged, hoping that the gesture was conveyed with nonchalance, opposite of the sudden nervousness he felt.

The three older spirits exchanged looks (Jack noticed that they did it quite often around him).

"You mean no one told you where to find us? It's not like it is a secret, practically everyone knows where we live. And while Merida tends to get grumpy when someone drops into her Fort without warning, and people just prefer **not** to visit Hiccup's place, my home is always open for anyone." Rapunzel was frowning in puzzlement at Jack, making him shift uncomfortably.

"Well, I uh kinda thought that you guys didn't want to associate with me? It was of course, before I knew about this stupid rule enforced by Mother Nature and Manny, but at that time I sort of decided not to bother because you didn't want to bother with me?" Jack shrugged his shoulders and ducked his head to watch as frost appeared on the floor where his staff touched it.

"And when we finally met, we didn't really say that you are more than welcome to visit us, because we forgot. We are so used to the fact that everyone knows where to find us that we didn't even think that you might not know. So we all maintained the status quo." Rapunzel sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I'm so sorry Jack. We shouldn't have assumed."

"That stupid rule is to blame." Merida mumbled, offering the half eating bowl to Jack, in a sort of apologetic gesture. Jack smirked weakly at them, accepting the bowl.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't have assumed too. So we are even."

"And, now we all resolved that this was just another miscommunication problem." Hiccup, dusted his hands off. "We really need to stop having those." He shot a pointed look at Merida, who groaned back at him.

"It was 700 years ago! Let it go already."

"Never." Hiccup shook his head dramatically. "You tried to use my helmet as a practice target and managed to _**saw off**_ my prosthetic!"

Glad for a change of topic, Jack couldn't help but ask in wonder. "How does the problem of miscommunication fits into this scenario?"

Merida and Hiccup exchanged looks, both donning deadpanned expressions, before turning to Jack. "It's a _long_ story."

They lost their composure immediately after, collapsing into snorts and giggles. The atmosphere returned its light-heartedness, the previous gloomy thoughts forgotten.

Rapunzel rolled her eyes at them. "Don't mind them. There is always a 'long story' with those two."

"Oh, I just realized!" The blonde's eyes lit up as she turned to Jack, taking a hold of his hand. "This is your first time in the tower! I should give you a tour! There are so many things I think you'll like, and I need to show you some other neat stuff!" the spring spirit practically squealed in excitement, shaking Jack's hand.

 _Well, that's what we came here for in the first place_ , Jack thought bemusedly.

Though, to be fair, for a second there, he forgot why he was here with these three spirits. It seemed unreal, that after almost 300 years of wondering about them, about why they won't reach out to him, he was now here, joking and smiling with them like they were old friends. The warmth, that had nothing to do with warm spring air and the kitchen, filled him from the inside.

 _Though,_ Jack blinked, _it looked like the 'warmth' metaphor was too literal._

"Uh, Rapunzel, your oven is burning?"

"Oh no! My Cabinet pudding!"

After saving the oven and the pastry inside ("It is called Cabinet Pudding, an Italian recipe from Victorian era! Here, you've got to try it!"), Rapunzel led Jack on a tour through her tower, with Hiccup and Merida trailing after them.

From the Victorian Kitchen, which was somewhere in the middle of the tower (if judging by the sight from the window), they moved upwards, with Rapunzel enthusiastically telling about every room, how it came to be and what was it for.

Jack quickly realized that Merida's previous words were true. What he had already seen, was just a little tiny fraction of the sheer amount of _**things**_ that Rapunzel gathered in her tower over all her decades of its existence.

So far, Jack had counted at least 18 kitchens (each dedicated to a different era and nation, because as Rapunzel said "To preserve authenticity of any recipe."), 10 more rooms with different musical instruments beside the first one, 11 weaving rooms and the same amount of rooms to hold all the ready 'products' of Rapunzel's weaving ("There were even more, but I gifted them away!"),over 20 libraries of different sizes ("I love reading, and people started to make so many books!"), 15 sitting/relaxing rooms (filled with furniture of all sizes and colours), 8 crafting rooms for some of Rapunzel's wood and clay related hobbies. And those were only the common ones! There was also an occasional garden inside the tower, or a greenhouse that hosted more delicate species of plants. A room or three for clothes, a room for board games, a room for collection of cups from around the world (Jack had to stare at Rapunzel incredulously in that one), a room for paper, a room for garden tools ( _But she was a spirit, she didn't need tools!_ Jack wanted to scream.), a room for glass blowing, a room for origami making (Why it wasn't in the same room with paper, Jack _didn't know_.), a room for some mysterious looking jars and boxes…

In other words, there were a lot of things. Jack's head hurt even to just think about approximate amount of them. He suspected that Rapunzel's tower beat North's place in roominess, and North's place was a freaking _Winter Wonder_ _ **land**_ _._

"And this is one of the recent rooms for my art supplies! I had to restock soon, though…" Rapunzel cheerfully dragged Jack into yet another room, not noticing slightly blank look on the winter spirit's face, from the amount of information she had dumped on him during their tour.

When Hiccup and Merida flew up after them, Jack sent an openly pleading and desperate look at Hiccup. He knew that he couldn't expect any help from Merida, who only gleefully fueled Rapunzel's chattering with comments and questions.

The autumn spirit raised an eyebrow at the white-haired youth, before sighing loudly.

"Maybe we should take a break Rapunzel? Why don't you show Jack your paint work?" Hiccup suggested to the blonde, who paused in her talking and thoughtfully stared at the autumn spirit, before smiling widely.

"That's a great idea!" She hurried to one of the many shelves lining the walls of the art room, where canvases were stacked.

Jack, grateful for a break, however short, collapsed onto the closest surface available, that happened to be a podium with an arrangement of fruits and flowers on it. Throwing an arm over his face, he groaned into the crook of his elbow quietly.

"Never thought you to be a hoarder Rapunzel." He said dazedly.

The blonde just hummed. "I prefer to call myself a Collector, thank you very much." She picked up one of the canvases and turned to the Jack. "After all, there are so many interesting things to see and do from all around the world! Not to mention that with every year, even more are created by people. I can't really help it, I want to try them all, I want to know them all!" She did an impulsive twirl around, clutching the canvas to her chest.

Jack heard Merida chuckle from where she was leaning against the wall. "Your enthusiasm is amazing as always Rapunzel."

"Oh, shush, you! It's not like you are not enjoying the labors of my work in the kitchen."

"What can I say? You are just that great of a cook." Merida grinned at the blonde.

Jack grunted, when Rapunzel nudged him to sit up and plopped down next to him, turning the canvas to face the white-haired youth. Jack couldn't help but inhale sharply when he saw it.

"This is one of my best works! I… wanted to show it to you for quite some time now." Rapunzel admitted, suddenly a little bashful, as she watched the winter spirit's reaction.

The canvas was done in the white and blue paint, depicting a familiar looking frozen over pond and a lithe figure flying over it, a full moon lightning it from behind. The colours were bright and lively, and Jack could swear that on the figure's face was a wide toothy smile. Jack blinked at the canvas, then at Rapunzel, slightly stunned.

"This…is amazing."

The blonde beamed at the winter spirit's words, before her eyes softened a little.

"Sometimes we couldn't help but be worried about you, during the times when we were prohibited to interact with you." Rapunzel said, shooting a look at Hiccup (who was smiling sincerely even if a little awkwardly), and Merida (who looked uncomfortable with the admission, but just grumbled and nodded).

Jack heard the unspoken. And he honestly was touched. Those three took on themselves to watch him from afar, when they were not allowed to even be near him, just to make sure that he was all right… The sudden wave of emotions made his chest constrict, and he hurriedly cleared his throat, blinking rapidly.

"Well… uh that didn't sound creepy at all." Jack joked weakly, but Rapunzel just smiled at him knowingly.

Not yet ready to address what was said, Jack focused his attention at the canvas again, tracing with his eyes the swirls of white that imitated his frost patterns. The winter spirit paused when something in the picture nagged at his mind. He squinted, trying to understand what it was, before his eyes widened in realization.

"Wait, I recognize this style!"

And he did, because all the walls in all the rooms he had seen today had at least one picture painted on them. It was the thing that Jack noticed, but forgot to ask about, while being distracted with the amount of things Rapunzel owned. In some rooms it was just a simple pattern of swirls or flowers. In others, like libraries, there were elaborate pictures on some free part of the walls. In some, the pictures covered the whole wall, like in one of the musical rooms, which depicted a merry gathering of musicians dancing along the walls under some melody.

Jack gaped at Rapunzel, who was blinking at him in question.

"It was you who painted the walls with those amazing pictures?!"

Hiccup snorted at Jack's honest surprise. "Of course, who do you think did it?"

"Uh, I don't know? Magic?" Jack answered, recalling his frost drawing powers and Toothiana's murals kept together by magic of children's belief in the Tooth Fairy.

Rapunzel laughed. "Oh, Jack, no. I do not like to use my powers in everything! I just really love drawing, and blank walls just looked plain depressing. You really like my work?"

"Like? Rapunzel, I love it. I may not have an artistic sense as good as you, but even I can see this is amazing." Jack gestured at the canvas he still held in his hands.

Rapunzel stood up with a smile. "Then you'll love what I want to show you." She stepped towards the middle of the room, Merida and Hiccup behind her with knowing looks on their faces. Jack reluctantly left the canvas on the podium, afraid of damaging it somehow if he took it with him, but hesitant to leave it, and joined them in the middle of the room.

The spring spirit took a hold of his hand and the wind blew them up, and in a blink, Jack was standing in a new room.

"Woah…" Jack breathed out, turning around, hardly believing that he was still in the tower, because right over his head stretched the night sky with twinkling stars scattered in it. But Jack blinked and the illusion dispersed, for in the sky he could see rafters.

The deep blue and violet colours of the night sky along with the stars were painted directly on the domed ceiling of, what he assumed to be, the roof of the tower. The stars were twinkling and pulsing with almost real-like light, and occasionally drifting clouds seemed to hang lower than they really were, as if they were in the room itself, rather than painted. Jack assumed that both were done with the help of magic. Jack's gaze slid lower, where the night sky faded into lighter blues along the walls. The winter spirit noticed that there were no windows in the circular room; however the smell of fresh air and a feeling of breeze were very much present here, as they continued to hover.

Finally Jack's eyes dropped on the floor itself. It was painted in bright and cheery colours, the familiar visage of Earth. It was similar to the one Merida had, but in different style and slightly more grandeur, completed with moving clouds hovering over the floor, and waves that rippled through the painted ocean. Curious, Jack allowed the wind to lower him (not noticing that Rapunzel let go of his arm as soon as she saw Jack staring in wonder at her work), letting his bare toes touch the floor. The stone was warm under his feet, and the cloud he had stepped onto, seemed to barely ripple as wispy cloud-like tendrils weaved around his ankles.

Jack couldn't help a big grin that bloomed on his face, as he wiggled his toes through the cloud wisps.

"This is my Weather map." ("More like a 'Weather Room'." Merida pointed out.) Rapunzel said, drifting up to the rafters, as she watched Jack dance through the clouds on the floor. "And this is my Sky map, something of my own invention!" The blonde gestured at the ceiling.

"Ever since I was young I loved looking at the stars, and had completed my own map of constellations, and movement of the night sky, and moon phases during seasons. This Sky map was painted copying the real night sky, and with a little bit of magic, it does so accordingly, depending on what I need to see."

Jack looked up just as the spring spirit waved her hand. The night sky shifted into the dark grey clouds and a lightning flashed in them, and Jack heard a muted sound of thunder rumbling as droplets of water fell from the clouds, but never too far, disappearing almost instantly as they appeared.

"That's a storm currently going in south part of America." Rapunzel explained, flying down and pointing at the mentioned area, where was gathered a mini-storm. Jack prodded it with his toe, earning himself a light 'zap' from a tiny lightning.

"Okay. I've got to admit this thing is just plain awesome." Jack grinned at Rapunzel, who smiled mischievously back.

"You haven't seen the last thing!"

With another flicker of her hand, Rapunzel summoned a single vine from the centre of the floor. It shot up towards the ceiling, wrapping around a hidden lever and pulling it down. A big section of the roof shifted and moved sideways, allowing the sunlight to slip into the room. Jack squinted at bright sunrays, looking as the part of the roof disappeared, opening up into the bright blue sky and a pale moon disk barely visible in the daylight. Jack noted that the design was similar to the skylight in North's workshop, and Jack wondered distractedly, if Santa Claus helped the spring spirit to build this one.

Jack flew up silently, perching himself in the opening and stared at the moon.

"…Does he ever talks to you?" the winter spirit couldn't help but ask, when he felt the air stir as the other spirits flew up to stand on both sides of him on the wide plank.

"Beyond telling me my name, he never talked to me. Though, he does send signs and directions sometimes when it is necessary." Merida shrugged and Rapunzel nodded at her words. Jack turned to Hiccup who stood on his other side. The autumn spirit was staring up at the moon with an unreadable expression on his face, but turned to the white-haired youth when he felt his gaze.

"I've heard him talk only two times in my life." Hiccup said. "First was when I woke up. The second time was almost 300 hundred years ago."

Jack's eyes widened.

"He said that the last of us had arrived, but we were 'not to approach him until he finds himself first'." Hiccup turned back to the moon, his face scrunched up in the expression, that Jack only caught glimpses of in all the time he had known the spirit.

"Probably he should've been the on to stick to his status quo and continue not talking to us."

 _Regret._

"But, yeah. He doesn't really talk to us much, unlike to the Guardians." Hiccup continued. "Though, he has a better record than Mother Nature."

"That woman." Merida huffed in exasperation. Jack turned just to see Rapunzel smile as if she wanted to agree with the sentiment, but was too polite to do so.

"I've seen and talked to her only once, 200 hundred years later after I became a spirit. She gave an obscure explanation about taking up the position of spirit of autumn, and that I was the first, and apparently responsible for introducing you to your duties. And that's it." Hiccup rolled his eyes, at Jack's incredulous expression. "Yeah. While everyone knows her, she's not overly friendly. The only people I know that she talks frequently to, are Father Time, and according to him, Mani. Despite us being… under her 'direct command', so to say, she is not awfully keen on leading us and giving directions."

"Some spirits say that she is reclusive by choice, not by nature." Rapunzel murmured, un-pinning her braid and slinging it over her shoulder. "So she probably has reasons to be like that."

"Reasons, or not, she is technically our leader, she ought to do her job then." Merida crossed her arms with a huff. "Though, it's not that I am keen on following some hermit nun or something. I can do my duties without supervision." Merida ignored Rapunzel's reproaching look.

"Though, what Rapunzel heard is true, what I gathered from older spirits is that she was like that with previous Seasonal Spirits too. So, I guess, it is nothing personal against us, it's just a way she decided to live." Hiccup shrugged, and Jack could see that the talk was straining for him. The winter spirit had to wonder, how many times the other had worried and thought about all of this? Hiccup obviously searched for answers, sought out other spirits, just to know why. Jack could sympathize with that, remembering his own years of questions and searches.

There was a moment of silence, when each of them seemed to be lost in their thoughts, before Rapunzel sighed and clapped her hands together.

"Ok, we really ought to stop bringing up the heavy stuff, you know?" she smiled at them, making others tentatively smile/smirk back. "Now you've seen my Weather Map, and my Skylight. But there are still many other things to see!"

Jack looked back into the tower with slight apprehension. "Uh, I am not sure I want go back inside… I mean!" he hastily added, when he saw a fallen expression on Rapunzel's face. "It's just so nice outside? All those flowers and fresh air…"

The blonde immediately perked up again.

"Oh! That's a great idea, actually! I know what else to show you. Come on!" And with these words she jumped off the perch and down the tower's outer wall. The three spirits hurried to catch the drift of the spring wind that allowed them to descend.

Jack noted that the top of the tower where they were, was peaking just slightly over the clouds. The view of through fluffy white clouds stretching far into the horizon was stunning, and it felt like the tip of the tower was an isolated island in the middle of a white ocean. Though, as they flew down through the clouds on the warm spring breeze, the white under them gradually gave away to azure colour. The winter spirit saw that while the blue lake was surrounded by a light mist, beyond the mist he couldn't see anything, even from their high point of view. Jack theorized that, similar to Merida's strange dimensional magic that allowed her entrances from any part of Earth with even a hint of forest, Rapunzel's tower in the middle of the lake was probably connected through the mist to any lake (or maybe even any water body?) on the Earth.

Jack was jerked out of his thoughts when the mind stirred them instead of away from the tower, towards it. The winter spirit blinked, and wondered how a balcony full of blooming flowers had escaped his notice before.

The balcony Rapunzel was leading them to, was a completely circular wide perch that closed around the tower like a ring. High and beautiful, ornament-carved railings from the same white stone as the floor, were practically covered in different vines and other dense greenery, creating a natural protection against the harshest winds on this height. Closer to the tower's wall there were organized many different patches of flowers and plants, and Jack had to wonder how did they survive here so high up where it was so cold (comparing to the spring's warmth, where normally flowers thrived)?

Rapunzel turned to Jack, as soon as they landed in the midst of little field of small blue-whitish flowers. And as if hearing his thoughts, she started explaining.

"This balcony is for those flowers that are native to harsher mountain climate. Practically all plants and flower here thrive in colder weather." The spring spirit crouched to touch the blooms of the blue-whitish flowers. "For example, this is Scabiosa, they are native to the mountain filed in the south of Eurasia." She pointed at the nearby bush of cheery yellow flower that probably reached Jack's calf. "And those are Alyssum Montana they grow in mountains of South Europe and Sibiria."

"And all of them bloom in colder weather?" Jack asked skeptically.

"Well, they all bloom in spring but in colder atmosphere of the mountain. Though there are many others that bloom in winter, like Winter pansies, Winter aconite, Snowdrops and of course Christmas rose. And while I have a few Snowdrops, I can't keep any other winter blooms, because the weather on my island is too warm for them." Rapunzel seemed to be very put out by that fact, though she quickly shrugged it off.

They went around garden like that, with Rapunzel pointing out flowers and telling where they originated from, with Jack asking occasional questions. The white-haired youth was surprised by how many flowers actually can grow and bloom in colder weather. Usually when Jack travels over such areas, there are already fresh layers of snow lying around, and when he leaves they only start to melt, so he obviously haven't seen all of them before. But Rapunzel's words about winter blooms had caught his attention, and he couldn't help but wonder, if it was possible for him to make a place where such flowers could bloom…

"Achoo."

"Bless you." Rapunzel said absent mindedly to Merida's hair.

Wait.

"Did your hair just sneeze?" Jack asked Merida, who looked suspiciously shifty.

"No."

Rapunzel, who finally got her mind away from flowers, turned to them. "Merida…" She frowned at the red-haired spirit. "You didn't."

"What. I didn't do anything. She did it herself!" Merida said defensively.

Jack blinked in fascination when Merida's curly hair shook and tinkled angrily, before a tiny face popped out of it and give another mighty bell-sounding sneeze.

"Merida!" Rapunzel exclaimed, looking annoyed. "How could you get up here, when you have Lily with you!"

"Is that a fairy?" Jack stepped closer to Merida, looking in amazement at small black-haired person in the summer spirit's hair. "I've never seen fairies before! Why is this one hiding in your hair?"

The fairy looked into Jack's eyes before squeaking and diving back into her hair cover.

"I'm sorry Rapunzel, she was so quiet I forgot she was there. And anyway my heat is keeping her safe, everything is fine." Merida waved off Rapunzel's worries. "And yes, Jack. It's a fairy. There are actually a lot of them here, they like to work with Rapunzel during spring and they like her garden too. And to why this one is hiding in my hair, ask Mr. Dragon owner there."

Hiccup, who was looking in slight amusement at them, just shrugged and answered cryptcically. "Well, I don't control the dragon."

"Can we have this discussion later?" Rapunzel frowned at all of them, putting her hands on her hips. "We ought to get down; it's not good for Lily to be up here, even if she is with you Merida."

Nobody wanted to argue with the agitated spring spirit, so they agreed to leave the balcony. Rapunzel didn't relax until they were back in island garden, where she proceeded to look pointedly at Merida's hair, until with a remorseful tinkle the fairy flew out and landed on the blonde's outstretched hand.

Jack finally took a proper look at the first fairy he had ever seen. She was, of course tiny, with dragonfly-like transparent wings that shimmered in the sunlight. Lily, as Rapunzel had called her, was dressed in a tiny top-leggings combo, made out entirely out of yellow petals. Her black hair was held in a braid that extended down her back right between her wings.

The winter spirit watched in fascination as Lily seemed to be talking to Rapunzel, but all that left her mouth sounded like little tinkling bell-sounds, accompanied with flutter of wings. But nevertheless, the spring spirit seemed to be able to understand them, if the frown on her face was any indicator when Lily finished her explanation.

"You always were far too curious, Lily." Rapunzel sighed. "You know you can't be up there for long periods of time, your wings could have been damaged."

The fairy made a sad noise and her wing lowered, but she shot a shy look at surprised Jack.

"I know. But still." The blonde shook her head at the fairy, before turning to Jack. "It seems like Lily couldn't resist the temptation of learning about you, Jack." She said with slight amusement. "That's why she stayed with Merida, even when we headed to the balcony."

"Oh." Jack said, surprised. "But… why are they not allowed onto the balcony?"

"You see Jack, the fairies' wings are fragile and they are very susceptible to cold. Their wings can freeze and crack, making them unable to fly." Rapunzel explained in a sad voice.

"Oh." Jack repeated, but this time more self-conscious, as he took a step away from the blonde and the fairy.

Lily didn't seem to like that, as she flew up and between Rapunzel and Jack, tinkling agitatedly. Rapunzel blinked in surprise, before translating.

"Lily says that even if they are more fragile in the cold, it doesn't mean that they don't like it. She asks not to take it personal, because they actually really love winter and fascinated with everything about it. They wanted to meet the new winter spirit for a long time already, and she was lucky to hide in Merida's hair and to be so close to you." When Rapunzel finished, Lily was panting and red-faced as she flew up tentatively to Jack's face and offered a smile.

"Oh." Jack said for the third time, but soft and hesitant, as he smiled back at the tiny black-haired fairy. "Thank you… that's… uh. I-" Jack was slightly at a loss of words, but he was saved from making a fool of himself in front of (seemingly adoring him) fairy, by Toothless, who galloped into their gathering with a triumphant guttering sound, before closing his mouth around wide-eyed Lily.

"NO!" Jack yelled out automatically, ready to blast the dragon into the face for him to release his new tiny friend, but was stopped by Hiccup's restraining hand and amused voice.

"Calm down Jack, everything is fine."

"He just ate Lily!"

"No he didn't, snowflake." Merida rolled her eyes and pointed at Toothless. "That's their demented version of 'hide and seek', why do you think Lily hid in my hair?"

As soon as that piece of information registered, Jack lowered his staff and stared incredulously at the black dragon's mouth, from where he could hear sounds of multiply angry bell-tinkles. Toothless let out an amused sound again, before opening his… toothless mouth wide, allowing the saliva-drenched fairies tumble out onto the grass.

"Wow, there are at least 20 of them here…" Jack said, dumbfounded. "You sure you didn't swallow any?" Which earned him a swat on the arm form Rapunzel, and a sour look from Lily.

"Well. I guess you beat your record this time, bud. 24 comparing to the last 18, in… 3 hours? Not bad." Hiccup commented, and more than a few tiny glares were directed on him. "What? You should hide better next time." There was a little battle cry tinkle and all fairies hurriedly gathered saliva from themselves and launched the projectiles at Hiccup, who just laughed and danced away from earth-bound fairies.

Rapunzel finally took a pity on the fairies and summoned a small rain cloud to help them clean themselves up, which they did hurriedly.

"Dragon saliva is hard to wash out if left for too long." Hiccup explained.

As soon as they were clean the fairies dispersed, but not before circling around the spirits and the dragon a few times, tinkling something. As they left, Rapunzel translated to the others.

"They asked us to leave the island, if all what we do is dwindle around." She chuckled.

"What a sour losers." Jack commented, as he watched pixie dust settle after the fairies.

"But they have a right idea." Rapunzel shrugged. "I've pretty much showed you everything I wanted, and either way, now that you know you can visit anytime, you have all the time to explore all rooms in my tower." She smiled at Jack, ignoring his mouthed words 'all rooms?'. "And from what I gathered, you've seen Merida's Fort and my Tower, so what's left is…" the blonde looked at Hiccup.

"Ooooh, you're gonna like it." Merida smirked.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her, but turned to Jack with a shrug. "I guess it's time to go then?"

* * *

 **Author's note:** I'm literally writing this 5 hours before I've to get up and leave for a family vacation, but I would have been unable to live with myself if I left without updating. But its 2 in the morning, and I finished the last 4 pages just now, so if there are any mistakes. sorry. I'm gonna revise it later when I'm not going on caffeine.

Thank you **Mei1395** , **Jinxxs, Demon's Path** for favs and follows!

 **Trivia:**

 **Skymap** \- taken practically directly from the movie Tangled, where Rapunzel drew a whole star/moon phase map just by wacthing the night sky through the window.

 **Flowers** \- all the names can be googled. The flowers are pretty and i should have added more of them in this chap.

 **Fairies** \- shamelessly taken from Tinkerbell's (Disney's) Fairies, along with the idea of freezing wings. Later will be explored in more depth.

 **German: Heim** \- home;

 _ **Turm der Frühling -**_ Tower of Spring.


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